377 lines
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ReStructuredText
377 lines
13 KiB
ReStructuredText
PEP: 581
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Title: Using GitHub Issues for CPython
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Version: $Revision$
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Last-Modified: $Date$
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Author: Mariatta Wijaya <mariatta@python.org>
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Discussions-To: ``#pep581`` stream in Zulip
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Status: Draft
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Type: Process
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Content-Type: text/x-rst
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Created: 20-Jun-2018
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Abstract
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========
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This PEP outlines the steps required to migrate Python's issue tracker
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from Roundup to GitHub issues.
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Rationale
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=========
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CPython's development moved to GitHub on February 2017. All other projects
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within the PSF's organization are hosted on GitHub and are using GitHub issues.
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CPython is still using Roundup as the issue tracker on bugs.python.org (bpo) [1]_.
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Why GitHub
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----------
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GitHub has a lot of nice features, readily available out of the box, that are
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not currently available on Roundup / bpo.
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- APIs that can be used to build integrations and automations. There are various
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existing integrations and applications available from GitHub Marketplace to
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help with the workflow. New applications are easily installed and enabled.
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In addition, we've had great success with building our own GitHub bots, like
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miss-islington [14]_, bedevere [15]_, and the-knights-who-say-ni [16]_.
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- Ability to embed/drag and drop screenshots and debug log files into GitHub
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pull requests and issues.
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- Administrators and core developers can edit issues, comments, and pull requests.
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- Ability to reply to issue and pull request conversations via email.
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- Support for two factor authentication.
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- Support for markdown and emoji.
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- Preview tab, showing how a comment will be rendered, prior to
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actually posting.
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- Support for voting via reactions.
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- Support for permalinks [2]_, allowing easy quoting and copying & pasting of
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source code.
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- Core developers don't have to maintain the issue infrastructure/site, giving
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us more time to focus on the development of Python.
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- Ability to automatically close issues when a PR has been merged [3]_.
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- Lower barrier to contribution. With more than 28 million users, an open
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source contributor is more likely to already have an account and be familiar
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with GitHub's interface, making it easier to start contributing.
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- Email notifications containing metadata [4]_, integrated with Gmail, allowing
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systematic filtering of emails.
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- Additional privacy, such as offering the user a choice to hide an
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email address, while still allowing communication with the user through @-mentions.
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Issues with Roundup / bpo
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-------------------------
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- Less than five people maintain bpo. Some of them are core developers.
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- It is in Mercurial. Without any CI available, it puts heavy burden on the few
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existing maintainers in terms of reviewing, testing, and applying patches.
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- At its current state, it is not equipped to accept lots of contributions from
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people who aren't already familiar with the code base.
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- The upstream Roundup is in Mercurial. There is an open discussion about
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moving the source code of bpo to GitHub [5]_. If the source code of
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bpo does move to GitHub, it will become difficult to update patches from
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upstream. But as long as it is in Mercurial, it is difficult to maintain
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and onboard new contributors.
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- The user interface needs update and redesign. It will require UX/UI research
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to keep it up to date with current web standards, including accessibility.
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- Email address is exposed. There is no choice to mask it.
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- There is no REST API available. There is an open issue in Roundup for adding
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REST API [6]_. Last activity was in 2016.
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- It sends a number of unnecessary emails and notifications, and it is
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difficult, if not impossible, to configure. An example is the nosy email,
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where email notifications are sent whenever someone adds themselves as "nosy".
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An issue has been filed in upstream Roundup about this since 2012 with
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little traction [7]_.
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- Creating an account has been a hassle. There have been reports of people
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having trouble creating accounts or logging in.
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Why not GitLab
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--------------
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Had we migrated to GitLab instead of GitHub in 2017, this PEP would have been
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titled "Using GitLab Issues for CPython".
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Why not another issue tracker
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-----------------------------
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Using another issue tracker will require yet another learning curve, for having
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to learn and get used to a different interface. We'll also need to learn and
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figure out how to build the integrations with GitHub.
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By using GitHub issues, where the CPython source code is currently hosted and where
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pull requests are taking place, we'll be providing consistent experience to
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contributors and maintainers, while not having to jump from one interface to another.
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Why not focus on improving Roundup / bpo
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----------------------------------------
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GitHub has many features we like that are already available. We still need to
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build out additional integrations and update our bots, but this is something
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we already know how to do.
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In order to really improve Roundup / bpo, it needs to first migrate to GitHub
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and add CI and bots. As I understand it, there is hesitation because upstream
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Roundup is still in Mercurial. Someone more familiar with Roundup / bpo needs
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to champion this effort. (I'm not volunteering, I'm sorry).
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I believe the effort of creating and maintaining GitHub integrations and bots
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is much less than the effort needed to get Roundup up to speed and then to
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continue maintaining it.
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Migration Plan
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==============
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Backup of GitHub data
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---------------------
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This effort has been started and is being tracked as an issue in core-workflow
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[8]_. We're using GitHub's Migrations API [9]_ to download GitHub data for
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CPython on a daily basis. The archives will be dropped in a S3 bucket.
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Thanks to Ernest W. Durbin III for working on this.
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Update the CLA host
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-------------------
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At the moment, the CLA is hosted within bpo. It needs to be updated such that
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signing the CLA does not require a bpo account, and it should be hosted outside
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of the bpo.
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The current CLA process itself is not ideal. Currently, contributors to
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devguide, peps, and core-workflow need to sign a CLA, and it requires a bpo
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account. A bpo account should not be required for those projects.
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Currently, the CLA process requires personnel to manually check the records.
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Question: Will it be possible to completely automate the CLA process, so
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it does not require human intervention?
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Create labels for issue triage
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------------------------------
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In bpo, we currently have the following fields for each issue:
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Types: behavior, crash, compile error, resource usage, security, performance, enhancement.
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Components: 2to3, Argument Clinic, asyncio, Build, Cross-build, ctypes, ...
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Priority: release blocker, deferred blocker, critical, high, normal, low
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We will create the corresponding labels::
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type-behavior, type-crash, type-compile error, type-resource usage, ...
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components-2to3, components-argument clinic, components-asyncio, ...
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priority-release blocker, priority-deferred blocker, priority-critical, ...
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In addition, we'll create a ``needs triage`` label.
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Create issue templates
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----------------------
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We will create an issue template and add the following headers::
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---
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Type: behavior | crash | compile error | resource usage (choose one)
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Components: 2to3 | Argument Clinic | asyncio | Build | ... (can select more than one)
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Priority: release blocker | deferred blocker | critical | ...
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Needs backport to: 2.7 | 3.6 | 3.7
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---
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The idea is to allow the issue creator to help us triage the issue.
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The above values are pre-filled in the template. The issue creator will remove
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texts that do not apply to their issue.
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Based on the above headers, bedevere-bot can apply the necessary labels to the
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issue. If the issue creator did not supply the above headers, the bot will apply
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the ``needs triage`` label. At that point, it will require a core developer to
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properly label the issue.
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We can also take advantage of GitHub's multiple issue template feature.
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Updates to bedevere
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-------------------
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Bedevere-bot will need to be updated to recognize the issue headers described
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above and apply the proper labels.
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Bedevere-bot can also copy over the labels to pull requests that correspond to
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the issue.
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Update the devguide
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-------------------
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Provide explanation in the devguide about new issue workflow and triage labels.
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Add a button in bpo to migrate the issue to GitHub
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--------------------------------------------------
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This will require the bpo to be updated. But I believe the effort needed for
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this is much less than a complete overhaul.
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We will create a button in bpo, that will copy over the issue description
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and associated comments into a GitHub issue.
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We should not be moving all open issues to GitHub. Issues with little or no
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activity should just be closed. Issues with no decision made for years should
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just be closed.
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If a core developer is still interested in the issue, they can indicate so in
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the bpo issue, and later use the button to migrate it over to GitHub.
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Make bpo read-only
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------------------
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This should be the final step. Once we start using GitHub issues, make bpo
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read-only, instead of shutting it down.
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Do not accept new registrations. Do not allow comments or issues to be created.
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TBD and additional concerns
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===========================
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Experts index
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-------------
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At the moment, there is a mechanism to automatically add people in the experts
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index to the nosy list. We need to replicate this functionality.
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A GitHub account should not be a requirement
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--------------------------------------------
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Back when moving the CPython codebase from Mercurial to GitHub was being
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discussed [10]_ [11]_, it was brought up that we still needed to allow uploading
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of patches on bpo, and that a GitHub account should not be a requirement in
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order to contribute to Python.
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If bpo is made read-only, we'll need to come up with a different solution to
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allow people to contribute when they don't have a GitHub account.
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One solution is to create a new "python-issues" mailing list, similar to the
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docs@python.org [12]_ mailing list, to allow people to submit their issues
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there.
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Related to this, since the migration to GitHub in 2017, I recall one case
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[13]_ where there was a contributor, who submitted a patch to Mercurial and
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refused to create a GitHub account. Because of this, our bot was unable to
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detect whether they had signed the CLA. Another person had volunteered to upload
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their patch to GitHub. But it was still required that both people sign the CLA.
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That particular situation was complicated. It took up five core developers' time
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to investigate and manually check the CLA, causing confusion.
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Trim off the "Components" list
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------------------------------
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Is the current "components" list still making sense and relevant?
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Can the list be shortened?
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Priority list
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-------------
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Is the current "priority" list useful? Nick Coghlan noted that perhaps only
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``release blocker`` and ``deferred blocker`` are useful.
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Further questions and discussions
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---------------------------------
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There is a dedicated `#pep581 <https://python.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/130206-pep581>`_
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stream in python.zulipchat.com.
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Acknowledgements
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================
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Thanks to Guido van Rossum, Brett Cannon, and Nick Coghlan, who were consulted
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in the early stage and research of this PEP. Their feedback, concerns, input,
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and ideas have been valuable.
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References
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==========
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.. [1] bugs.python.org
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(https://bugs.python.org/)
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.. [2] Getting permanent links to files
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(https://help.github.com/articles/getting-permanent-links-to-files/)
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.. [3] Closing issues using keywords
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(https://help.github.com/articles/closing-issues-using-keywords/)
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.. [4] About GitHub email notifications
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(https://help.github.com/articles/about-email-notifications/)
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.. [5] Consider whether or not to migrate bugs.python.org source code
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to GitHub repo
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(https://github.com/python/bugs.python.org/issues/2)
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.. [6] Roundup issue 2550734: Expose roundup via a RESTful interface
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(http://issues.roundup-tracker.org/issue2550734)
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.. [7] Roundup issue 2550742: Do not send email by default when adding
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or removing oneself from the Nosy list
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(http://issues.roundup-tracker.org/issue2550742)
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.. [8] Backup GitHub information
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(https://github.com/python/core-workflow/issues/20)
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.. [9] GitHub's Migrations API
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(https://developer.github.com/v3/migrations/orgs/)
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.. [10] Python-committers email
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(https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-committers/2015-December/003642.html)
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.. [11] Python-committers email
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(https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-committers/2015-December/003645.html)
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.. [12] docs mailing list
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(https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/docs)
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.. [13] CPython GitHub pull request 1505
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(https://github.com/python/cpython/pull/1505)
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.. [14] miss-islington
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(https://github.com/python/miss-islington)
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.. [15] bedevere
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(https://github.com/python/bedevere)
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.. [16] the-knights-who-say-ni
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(https://github.com/python/the-knights-who-say-ni)
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Copyright
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=========
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This document has been placed in the public domain.
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..
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Local Variables:
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mode: indented-text
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indent-tabs-mode: nil
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coding: utf-8
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End:
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